When buying yourself a new computer (or building yourself one), it’s imperative to check the individual specifications of your new system, from the processor, the memory, the storage drives, etc. Basically the performance of your system boils down to the essential little details inside it.
But when looking at processors, most people who are new to buying computers or their components are confused when it comes to choosing a 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) CPU. Professionals and enthusiasts alike encourage people to go for a 64-bit system, as they claim it is much faster and efficient than a 32-bit system. A lot of PC manufacturers and most CPUs sold today, be it by Intel or AMD, are capable of going 64-bit.
The Dream
People have long believed that “bigger is always better”. A bigger house could store more stuff, and a bigger road could accommodate more vehicles. Somehow I’m not going into nay more details here since sentences about making stuff bigger always go down to dick jokes.
The Reality
In reality, sometimes bigger isn’t always better. A bigger house would require a larger lot, and with society’s tendency to pack more people and stuff into every square meter, acquiring a big enough lot for your mansion without breaking the bank would be highly impossible, unless you drive five Rolce-Royces and those five cars shoot dollar bills out of their exhausts instead of fumes.
The term “bigger is not always better” could apply in choosing whether a larger memory architecture would be required. In a computer, the smallest data size is a bit, which is represented either by a 1 or 0. Bits, when packed together, form the essential pieces of data and information you see today. A single character that you can read in this article at the moment is actually made up of 8-bits, or a group of eight 1’s and 0’s packed together. Imagine having to convert all of the characters in this article to groups of eight bits manually. It would be torture. Thankfully, you have your CPU do that job for you.
CPUs rely on various bit architectures to do their work. The first microprocessors were capable of using an 8-bit architecture, but today most microprocessors are capable of performing in a 32-bit or 64-bit architecture.
The difference
The only important difference with 32 and 64-bit architectures is that, because 64-bit architectures have more bits than 32-bit (and water is wet, fire is hot) architectures, 64-bit architectures can handle more 1’s and 0’s than 32-bit. 64-bit can handle up to 64 bits, and vice versa. Accomplishing this, 64-bit architectures can handle larger numbers and floating point (decimal point in layman terms) numbers.
With a 64-bit architecture, a system can store, process and handle larger amounts of data. A 32-bit system for example, can only have a maximum memory of around 3.5GB to 4GB, because its address buses (aka places where your computer stores its shit) can only hold to around that amount. 64-bit systems can handle much more because they have more bits to store stuff into. This is why many computer salesmen, enthusiasts and manufacturers tell you that, “You should definetely go 64-bit, because you can hold more than 4GB of RAM! How awesome is that! More RAM = faster computer, amirite?”
Actually no. More RAM does not equal a faster computer, unless you completely take out your swap space (some space on your hard drive that the computer uses like RAM, but slower than RAM), and dedicate your oversized RAM space to your computing needs. With more RAM, your computer is able to multi-task more efficiently, because all the applications you are running can have some space on the RAM, making them quicker.
However, the part that RAM makes programs faster does not apply to every computer software, most notably 3D applications such as games. Games rely more on your graphics card than your RAM, so extra RAM in gaming would only be useful if you can’t shut down background applications while you’re gaming.
The Decision
Concluding this article, I’m not trying to steer people away from going 64-bit. 64-bit is GREAT. People are actually looking forward to have our computers go through a transition from 32 to 64 bit, even if it’s a bit slow. To support this campaign, modern microprocessors today are capable of running 64-bit. New versions of your favorite operation systems, be it Windows, Mac or Linux, have support for 64-bit architectures.
However, since not everybody in the world uses 64-bit systems, software developers have to create separate source codes for both 32 and 64-bit computers. You’ve probably noticed that on some applications you download on the web, there is a 32-bit installer, along with a 64-bit one. Although your computer will not blow up and burn in flames whenever you run a 64-bit application on a 32-bit machine and vice versa, your program will run much, much slower, because your computer will have to compensate for the missing/extra bits.
So if you have a 32-bit computer as of now, don’t fret, you’re not getting old, maybe at least not for the next five to eight years. However, if you’re looking to buying or building a new computer, be sure to get a 64-bit machine, so that your computer will be compliant to the new standards of the near future.
